Marketing 101

I am trying to step up my marketing efforts for my business this week. Marketing is not my strongest skill. I am a technical guy and although I have worked as a consultant for over 15 years I don't find myself comfortable with selling my skills. This is not new to me, however, since most of my work for the last 12 years has been a direct result of interfacing with my customers and selling my skills and my company's services. Now however, doing it completely on my own and working through a succinct and well-defined definition of what my company has to offer is a personal challenge for me - but one I am excited to pursue.

I have had to work through the anticipation of dealing with "no" and the series of failures that people in business must face. When you have an established company standing behind you it seems easier to take the calculated risks knowing that you have resources to cover you. Now in the position of a small business with no one to blame but yourself feels (and most likely is) more intimidating.

For today, the motto is "press on". Sounds a bit pithy but fits well nonetheless.

(photo by Bill Longshaw)